Building construction and method



April 23, 1968 D. F. ERICKSON 3,378,964

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND METHOD Filed April 15, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m 3 K .29 FIG 24 2f 45 15 l J INVENTOR.

3 DAA RELL FER/CKSON BY 2 t ,4 M47,

ATTORNEKS April 23, 1968 D. F. ERICKSON 3,378,964

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND METHOD Filed April 13, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m i INVENTOR.

" DARRELL FER/cKsoN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,378,964 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND METHOD Darrell F. Erickson, Rapid City, S. Dale, aasignor to Rushmore Homes, Rapid City, S. Dale, a corporation of South Dakota Filed Apr. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 447,787 Claims. (Cl. 52-79) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOS A building construction and method wherein a plurality of similar, preconstructed units are fitted together in vertical overlying relationship with a completely enclosed dead-air space therebetween and in horizontal spaced-apart relationship with a dead-air space therebetween. The dead-air space provides a sound and heat cushion to insulate units from each other.

This invention pertains to a new and improved building construction and method and more particularly to a plurality of similarly constructed building units fitted together to form the desired building having heat and sound cushioning airspaces between all adjacent units.

In prior-art buildings upper stories are connected to lower stories by either having one set of joists therebetween with a ceiling on the bottom surface thereof and a floor on the top surface thereof or by having ceiling joists and floor joists connected by binding joists in an assembly known as a double-framed floor. In either case the floor in the upper story is directly connected to the ceiling in the lower story through the joists. This direct connection of the upper and lower stories transmits sound therebetween very readily. Also, in prior art devices walls of adjoining rooms in the same story are generally comprised of a single group of wall studs with the finishing material attached to either side thereof. Again these wall studs transmit sound between rooms very readily. This transmission of noise between adjoining rooms and overlying rooms is especially obnoxious in buildings where many varied groups of people may be living permanently or temporarily, such as multi-plex apartments, motels, etc.

In the present invention a plurality of similar sized units are constructed, each having a separate upper and lower wall and four side walls. The four side walls and the lower Wall are covered with a rough siding to complete the basic unit. The rough siding on the four side walls is extended slightly past the rough siding on the lower wall to form a downwardly extending flange completely around the outer periphery of the lower wall. When a building is assembled the foundation is laid and a substantially rectangular-shaped frame, which may simply be two-by-fours or the like, is fixedly attached to the foundation so that a basic unit sits on the frame and the downwardly extending flange of the unit butts against the outer surface of the frame. It should be understood that the frame might also be fixedly connected and, in fact, part of the flange on the lower wall of the basic building unit or the flange might be simply positioned between the unit and the foundation without being fixedly connected to either. The flange in engagement with the frame maintains the unit a substantially uniform distance from the foundation. Also, a plurality of frames are placed in side-by-side relationship so that a plurality of units may be placed in juxtaposition on the foundation. In each case the frame is placed on the foundation so that adjacent units have a substantially uniform spacing therebetween.

To add a second story to the building frames similar to ice those already described are attached to the upper surface of the upper wall of the lower units or, as described above, the frames may be attached to the lower surface of the upper unit and constitute a portion of the flange thereon or may be positioned between units without being fixedly connected to either. A second unit is then positioned on the frame in a fashion similar to the positioning of the lower units on the foundation. These frames between stories maintain a substantially uniform airspace between the floor joists of the upper story and the ceiling joists of the lower story. The entire assembly is then covered with a roof which is fixedly attached to the upper story in the usual manner and a finishing siding is placed over the exposed side walls of the assembled units. This finishing surface encloses the space between adjacent units to form a dead airspace or sound and heat cushion.

Thus, in the present invention each of the units has a sound and heat cushion between any wall and the wall of an adjacent unit. Also, a building is extremely easy to construct since a plurality of units may be built at ground level and then assembled into a multi-storied building.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved building.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of constructing a new and improved building.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved building having sound and heat insulated units therein.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved multi-story building which is simple and inexpensive to construct.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the accompanying specification, claims, and drawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the figures:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a building constructed in accordance with the present invention, parts thereof broken away;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the building parts thereof broken away and shown in section;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view as seen from the line 33 in FIG. 2, parts thereof broken away;

FIG. 4 is a view in perspective of a single unit, parts thereof broken away and shown in section; and

FIG. 5 is an improved view of a single unit, parts thereof broken away and shown in section.

In FIG. 1 a building 10 is illustrated which is composed of a plurality of units 11. The detailed construction of a single unit 11 is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. Each of the units is substantially parallelepiped shaped having a lower wall 23, an upper wall 24 and four side walls 29 and all of the units are substantially similar in size. It should be understood that although the basic units are illustrated as similar in the present embodiment the units could be changed somewhat internally and the exterior could also be altered slightly as long as they remain the same in size.

In the construction of the lower wall 23 of a single unit a plurality of floor joists 12, which are of the required size and the desired length, are uniformly spaced horizontally and connected at their ends by headers 13. The entire assembly, which is rectangular in shape, is covered by some desirable floor material 14 and floor plates 15 are fixedly attached along the edges thereof. The underside of the floor joists 12 is covered with a rough siding material 16, which may be any cheap material that is strong enough to attach the finished siding or the finishing outer surface thereto.

For the construction of the four side walls 29 a plurality of wall studs 17 are fixedly attached at one end to the floor plate and the other end is fixedly attached to a header 18. In general the floor plates 15 are a single two-by-four while the headers 18 at the upper end of the studs 17 are comprised of a pair of two-by-fours lying horizontally and fixedly attached together, in the usual manner. The wall studs 17 are uniformly spaced apart horizontally and define the four side walls 29 of the unit. The side walls 29 may contain any desired amount of windows and doors, such as the window 19 and the door 20 illustrated in the unit described. The window and door 19 and 20 are constructed in the usual manner and will not be described in further detail. The inner surfaces of the wall studs 17 are covered with any desirable wall surfacing material 21, such as slats and plaster, wall board, etc. Any side walls 29 that it is anticipated will not be in juxtaposition to a side wall in an adjacent unit may have insulating material designated 22 between the wall studs 17 thereof.

To construct the upper wall 24 a plurality of ceiling joists 25 are uniformly spaced horizontally and attached at their ends by headers 26. The ceiling joists 25 and the headers 26 are of the required size and the length is such that they will extend over the front of the unit a substantial distance to provide an overhang or porch. Also, the floor joists 12 in the lower wall may be extended outwardly from the front of the unit a sufiicient distance to form a porch deck, or the porch deck and/ or the overhang may be eliminated. The undersurface of the ceiling joists 25 is covered with a rough siding material 27, which is a thin rough material such as plywood or the like and the desired finished ceiling 28 is fixedly attached thereto. The upper surface of the ceiling joists 25 may be covered with a rough siding material such as 27 or 16 also to further improve the sound and heat insulation if it is desired. The entire upper Wall 24 is fixedly attached to the headers 18 at the upper end of the wall studs 17. While the floor joists 12 and the ceiling joists 25 are illustrated and described as spanning the basic units lengthwise it would be within the scope of this invention to span the crosswise width of the units instead.

The outer surface of the wall studs 17 are covered with a rough siding material 16 similar to that covering the outer surface of the floor joists 12. The rough siding material 16 covering the four side walls 29 is extended slightly past the material 16 covering the floor joists 12 to form a downwardly extending flange 30 completely around the outer periphery of the lower wall 23. In general the flange 30 extends past the material 16 on the lower wall 23 a distance between one and two inches. However, it should be understood that the length of the flange 30 is not critical and will depend upon the materials etc. used in the construction of the unit 11.

The assembly of the units 11 into the desired building 10 can be seen more clearly in conjunction with FIGS. 2 and 3. 'In FIG. 3 a foundation comprising footings is constructed to receive a building of the desired size. A frame 36 for each unit 11 which is to be in direct contact with the footings 35 is constructed from some material such as two-by-fours or the like placed in the horizontal position. The two-by-fours are assembled in a rectangular shape so that the outer edges of the frame 36 abut the flange 30 of a building unit 11 when the building unit 11 is placed thereon. The frames 36 fit snugly within the flanges 30 and maintain the lower building units 11 a substantially uniform distance from the foundation. This uniform distance is completely enclosed and provides a dead airspace 37 which acts as a cushion for heat and sound. The frames 36 are spaced horizontally apart on the footings 35, or connected directly to the lower surface of the units to form a part of flange 30, to provide a substantially uniform space 38 between adjacent building units 11.

A second frame 40 comprised of two-by-fours or the like lying horizontally and connected together in a rectangular shape is placed on the upper surface of each of the lower building units 11 or, again, the second frames 40 may be connected as part of the flange 30 on each of the upper units. The frames 40 are assembled similar to the frames 36 and upper units 11 are placed thereon to provide a second story for the building. The frames 40 fit into the flanges 30 of the upper units 11 exactly as the frames 36 fit into the flanges 30 of the lower units 11. Also, each frame 40 maintains an upper unit 11 a substantially uniform distance from a lower unit 11 whereby an airspace 41 is provided between units. It should be noted that there is no connection whatever between the floor joists 12 of the upper unit 11 and the ceiling joists 25 of the underlying lower unit 11 except for the frames 40 around the outer edge thereof. Thus, the airspace 41 acts as a sound and heat cushion to insulate the upper unit 11 from the underlying lower unit 11.

After the units 11 are assembled in the manner just described a finishing surface 45 is fixedly attached to the rough siding 16 along all exposed Side Walls 29, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. A roof 46 is fixedly attached to the upper surface of all of the adjacent upper units 11. The finishing material 45 and the roof 46 enclose the substantially uniform spacings 38 between adjacent units 11. Thus, the spacing 38 is a dead airspace and acts as a sound and heat cushion between horizontally adjacent units 11. Since the wall studs 17 of adjacent units 11 are separated by dead airspace 38 there is no solid connection between the two side walls 29 to transmit sound. After the finishing surface 45 is placed on the building any desired ornamental features such as Wrought-iron railings 47 and outside lights 48 may be placed on the building to enhance the aesthetic value thereof.

Thus, each of the units 11 is completely separated from all adjacent units by substantially uniform dead airspaces 37, 38 and 41 and sound transmission between units 11 is practically eliminated. Also, the units 11 are simple and inexpensive to construct since each of the units 11 is completely assembled at ground level and then placed in position on the desired story.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of this invention, further modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art. I desire it to be understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular form shown and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. A building comprising:

(a) a plurality of building units each including (1) an upper and a lower wall and four side walls fixedly joined to produce a substantially parallelepiped shape, and

(2) a fiange extending downwardly about the outer periphery of said lower wall for maintaining a substantially uniform dead airspace between said lower wall and any base for said unit;

(b) frame means around an upper edge of a unit positioning units of said plurality of units in vertical overlying relationship to produce a dear-air space substantially enclosed by said downwardly extending flange and units in horizontal juxtaposition to produce said building having the desired size; and

(c) means enclosing a substantially uniform vertical airspace between said units in horizontal juxtaposition.

2. A building comprising:

(a) a plurality of building units each including 1) an upper and a lower wall and four side walls fixedly joined to produce a substantially parallelepiped shape,

(2) covering means fixedly attached to the outer surface of said lower and four side walls, and

(3) said covering means attached to said four side walls extending past said covering means attached to said lower wall to produce a downwardly extending flange around the periphery thereof for maintaining a substantially uniform airspace between said lower wall and any base for said unit;

(b) a foundation;

(c) first generally rectangular shaped frames supported by said foundation having the flanges of a first group of said building units engaged therewith and maintaining said first group spaced a substantially uniform distance from said foundation and from each other; and

(d) second generally rectangularly shaped frames supported above the upper walls of said first group having the flanges of a second group of said building units engaged therewith along the outer edges thereof and maintaining said second group spaced a substantially uniform distance from said first group and from each other providing dead-air spaces therebetween for heat and sound insulation.

3. A building substantially as set forth in claim 2 having in addition a roof fixedly attached to the second group of units and a finishing outer surface fixedly attached in overlying relationship to said covering means of all exposed side walls so as to enclose the spacing between adjacent units.

4. A method of constructing a building comprising the steps of:

(a) assembling a plurality of units having an upper and a lower wall and four side walls with a flange extending downwardly about the outer periphery of said lower wall;

(b) forming a foundation to receive said building, said foundation including first generally rectangularly shaped frames for engaging the flanges of assembled units in contact therewith and maintaining units in contact therewith spaced a substantially uniform distance from said foundation and from each other;

(c) placing a first group of said assembled units in contact with said foundation and with the flanges engaging said first frames;

(d) supporting second generally rectangularly shaped frames on the upper walls of said first group for engaging the flanges of assembled units in contact therewith and maintaining units in contact therewith spaced a substantially uniform distance from said first units and from each other; and

(e) placing a second group of said assembled units in vertical overlying relationship on said first group with the flanges engaging the frames thereon and providing dead-air spaces therebetween for heat and sound insulation.

5. A method of constructing a building substantially as set forth in claim 4 and having in addition the steps of attaching a roof to the second group of units and placing a finishing outer surface over all exposed side walls so as to enclose the spacing between adjacent units.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS France.

1964 Canada.

JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner. 

